Among refractory products, a distinction is made between fused cast products and sintered products.
Unlike sintered products, fused cast products usually comprise a very abundant intergranular glassy phase which fills a network of crystalline grains. The problems encountered in their respective applications by sintered products and by fused cast products, and the technical solutions adopted for solving them, are therefore generally different. Furthermore, due to the significant differences between the manufacturing processes, a composition developed for manufacturing a fused cast product is not a priori able to be used as such for manufacturing a sintered product, and vice versa.
Sintered products are obtained by mixing appropriate raw materials then forming this mixture in the green state and firing the resulting green part at a temperature and for a time that are sufficient for sintering this green part.
Sintered products, depending on their chemical composition, have different properties and are therefore intended for very different industries.
Among ceramic sintered products, quadratic yttria-stabilized zirconia products, typically comprising a molar amount of Y2O3 equal to 3%, have a high rupture stress and a high hardness.
Ceria-stabilized zirconia products, typically comprising a molar amount of CeO2 equal to 12%, have a very high toughness, greater than that of yttria-stabilized zirconia products, but a lower rupture stress and a lower hardness.
There is therefore a need for a sintered ceramic product that has a better compromise of hardness, toughness and modulus of rupture.
One aim of the invention is to at least partially meet this need.